Highlights
November 8, 2018Little change is expected in weekly jobless claims, with the Econoday consensus at 213,000, 1,000 less than last week. Investors are likely to focus on something else than politics for a change, namely on the FOMC announcement this afternoon at the conclusion of their 2-day meeting, which will not be followed by a press conference and is widely expected to leave the Fed funds target range of 2.00 to 2.25 percent unchanged, while indicating that the central bank is on track for a hike in December and 3 additional hikes next year. A surprise would be any indication that the FOMC is uncomfortable with the impact of its tightening on financial markets, by for example, walking back Chairman Jerome Powell’s “we are a long way from neutral” market-unsettling remark.